Jack Brooks Regional Airport

Yes, it is time to get those plants into the ground! If you’ve never had a pollinator-friendly plant area, maybe this is the year.

Why pollinators? Pollination begins with flowers. Flowers have male parts that produce very small grains called pollen. Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from one flower to another; it leads to the production of more plants and seeds that will create more plants.

Yes, it is that wonderful time of the year again when those green leaves in the trees surprise us with how much they grow every day, and birds just everywhere with their antics. And we are getting very busy in the yard. It can even be overwhelming. Hopefully, you have clipped dead branches and prepared a little section of your yard for growing some new little seedlings, even if it is some pots with brand new potting soil.

Jefferson County Commissioners have tentatively committed to approving a budget for the coming fiscal year that will not raise the tax burden placed on property owners, but in order to do so, the elected leaders have to figure out how to balance a budget with more funding requests and less income.

According to Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, who heads the Commissioners Court, the county has been hard hit by lowered gas prices.

Spring has sprung! Best not to stay up too late this Friday night. Bright and early Saturday morning, April 9, you better get on over to the Annual Spring Plant Sale and Market Day. You’ll be sorry if you don’t. There are scads of new plants this year and hundreds of the classics.

According to the new horticulture agent for Texas Agri-Life Extension Agency, David Oates, the master gardeners have outdone themselves again this year.

I hope that you have been saving up some plastic bags and other small waterproof containers. Why? It is almost time for the much-anticipated annual Tree Give Away, a project of the Jefferson County Master Gardeners. Prepare to make the short trip over to the Jefferson County Master Garden Test Garden at Jack Brooks Regional Airport on Friday, Feb. 19, from 8-11 a.m. to get your own trees.

Jack Brooks Regional Airport was surrounded by emergency vehicles and law enforcement, including S.W.A.T on Tuesday, March 17, but not because of a disaster, rather as part of an exercise to prevent and handle emergency situations.

The disaster drill simulated an active shooter in which local law enforcement and federal officers trained on how to handle a hostage situation as required by the Federal Aviation Administration for all commercial airports.

Our master gardeners are keeping us busy this fall. Just a couple of weeks ago at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport, they set records with the number of folks who came to the annual Fall Plant Sale. And this is with good reason. Their plant options are numerous and varied.

The ribbon has been cut! Daily flights between the Jack Brooks Regional Airport and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport commenced Thursday, Feb. 14, at the airport in Beaumont, an event that brought together hundreds of people from around the area.

The celebration started bright and early at 9 a.m. with droves of community members gathering to show their support for the new route that so many in the area worked to bring to Jack Brooks Regional.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.